TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — An Instagram sports account claims that Taiwanese American basketball player Jeremy Lin (林書豪) is poised to leave the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and play for a team in Taiwan.
The Instagram account Midnight Sport on Tuesday (Dec. 6) posted a photo of Lin in a New York Knicks uniform and simply wrote "Coming Soon." The post is being taken seriously by some Taiwanese media and sports fans because it has recently predicted the arrival of former NBA players Dwight Howard and Aaron Harrison.
This is also consistent with a Weibo post released on Oct. 21 by Chinese basketball blogger 導演我躺哪 that Lin was about to leave the CBA and will play for the Kaohsiung Steelers in Taiwan's P. League+. Lin's brother, Joseph Lin (林書緯), is already in the league and plays for the New Taipei Kings.
Also in the Midnight Sport post is the letter "S," which is an indication that Lin will play for the Steelers, as the account typically posts a hint about the team that the player is joining. If he joins the team, he will be playing alongside Harrison, a former Charlotte Hornets teammate.
Chou Chun-san (周俊三), coach of the Super Basketball League team Taiwan Beer was cited by TVBS as saying that "there is an opportunity because, after all, domestic basketball is developing quite well, and it is quite feasible to use a player with a Taiwanese background, but this part is still up to the league itself to make the final confirmation." When asked by the news agency to confirm Lin's signing with the Kaohsiung Steelers, the team's general manager Kao Ching-yen (高景炎) claimed that he did not know about the matter but emphasized that when there is news, it will be released to the public.
Lin only played 23 games last season, while his offensive and defensive stats have also declined compared to previous seasons. His contract was not renewed by the Beijing Ducks and he decided to move to the Guangzhou Loong Lions, where he has been used very sparingly.
Neither the team nor Lin had responded to a request from Taiwan News to confirm that he has joined the organization.
